Big League Chew, the shredded bubble gum brand, filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court against Ford Gum & Machine Company on Monday, alleging in a 44-page complaint obtained by The Athletic that Ford Gum is seeking to make unauthorized trademark claims, violate its licensing agreement and interfere with Big League Chew’s brand.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, comes in response to Ford Gum filing a trademark application in April to register a shredded gum configuration as its own trademark and alleges Ford Gum “blatantly breached its agreements” with Big League Chew and “threatens the existence” of the company. In addition to seeking an injunction to halt Ford Gum’s trademark application, Big League Chew’s complaint alleges that Ford Gum has violated the licensing terms between the two companies. Ford Gum was granted a limited license to manufacture and distribute Big League Chew products in 2010 and was prohibited from claiming ownership of the product’s unique shredded gum dress, according to the lawsuit.
“I’ve had this product for almost 50 years,” said founder and former minor leaguer Rob Nelson, whose company The Rob Nelson Inc. is also listed as a plaintiff along with Big League Chew Properties LLC in the case. “I had Big League Chew before I had my three kids. The story of Big League Chew is well known. It’s on the back of the pouch. I’ve been the gum guy for a really long time. This just cuts right into my soul.”
In Ford Gum’s trademark application, filed on April 1 and reviewed by The Athletic, chief executive officer Scott Lerner wrote:
“Ford Gum and its predecessor-in-interest is the first company to offer and sell chewing gum (including bubble gum) in a shredded shape. Ford Gum began selling its shredded gum product in or about 1979. Since that time, and through the present, Ford Gum has been, and is, the only company to offer and sell gum in a shredded shape.”
The trademark application also states: “From 1979 to the present, Ford Gum has sold over one billion pouches of the Product.”
However, according to Nelson, Ford Gum did not enter into an agreement to license Big League Chew products until 2010, a fact confirmed on Ford Gum’s website. Prior to that, Big League Chew’s products were licensed by Amurol Confections, a division of Wrigley, who were the first licensees to make Big League Chew bubble gum.
Lerner didn’t return multiple messages from The Athletic.
Jeffrey Allen, Big League Chew’s attorney, told The Athletic that Ford Gum has made multiple unsuccessful offers to purchase Big League Chew since Ford changed ownership roughly two and a half years ago. Allen said Big League Chew asked Ford Gum to withdraw their trademark application several times and was met with resistance.
“It was either we let them take the trademark or we do something about it, and that’s what we did with this lawsuit,” Allen said. “We cannot allow the Big League Chew brand to be misrepresented, misappropriated and tarnished.”
Nelson, a left-handed pitcher, created Big League Chew in 1977 while playing for the Portland Mavericks. The idea was to make bubble gum that resembled chewing tobacco. With help from former Yankees All-Star Jim Bouton and batboy Todd Field, the first batch was made two years later in Fields’ mother’s kitchen.
Big League Chew’s current contract with Ford Gum runs until 2045. It is not clear how any pending litigation would affect the two parties’ future. Big League Chew said it is exploring contingency plans to ensure uninterrupted production and distribution of its products.
(Photo: Will Newton / Getty Images)
